What’s the most fun you’ve had while watching a movie? When I say fun, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the best movie you have ever seen, it could be good, great or even so bad that its kinda good. Shazam! luckily doesn’t belong to the third category, it lies smack in the middle of the good and the great. Basically, some of my favorite movie viewing experiences have been the ones where I went in with nearly no knowledge of the film, having completely skipped the trailers and had no idea what to expect.
For example, as unbelievable as it may sound, I had no idea what La La Land was about, or that it was a musical. I was blissfully unaware of anything about the film, because it hadn’t publicized at all in India, the only thing I knew about the film was its lead pairing, I went in and it blew my mind. I admit that a movie like La La Land would have impressed me, even with prior expectation, but that moment of discovery was beautiful and added to my experience. I had an extremely similar experience with Shazam!, which is not to say it is in any way similar to La La Land, or even remotely in the same category.
I will quickly admit, I am not a huge fan of DCEU, I mean, I found Suicide Squad to be insufferable (like most others) and I did not even bother with watching Justice League, or Batman v Superman for that matter. Aqua-man was pretty generic. So essentially, with the exception of Wonder Woman, my past experience with DC has been lukewarm. So, obviously, going into Shazam!, I had limited expectations. I didn’t read too much or even pay attention to the media reactions surrounding it. I just decided to book my tickets, on a whim and go for it.
I mention this because my response to Shazam! was somewhat contrasted, how I felt about Captain Marvel. A strong film in its own right, Captain Marvel didn’t stand up to the phase 3 MCU films, in my opinion, because of its somewhat weaker character development and shoddy pacing. So essentially while my love for MCU worked to Captain Marvel’s disadvantage,my unfamiliarity and absolute lack of expectations from Shazam!, worked in its favor. I enjoyed myself, a lot! It was a delightful movie viewing experience. Here’s why.
In the first few minutes of Shazam!, I found myself wondering, who does this film cater to? The lead protagonist is a child, most of his backstory is pretty substandard superhero origin movie stuff and yet some of the fight scenes in the film are too graphic for kids, (it is adequately rated PG-13). In the beginning it didn’t strike me as a film that should appeal adult ( and yes, I know most superhero movies generally do not have a target age group, rather a target fan-base).
About 20 minutes into the film, I realized why Shazam! felt special to me and it was through the reactions of my younger sister (15yo). I saw her laughing out loud, even at moments when I wasn’t all that amused, but in those moments, something struck me, Shazam! wasn’t trying to cater to the adult in me, it was rather evoking a nostalgia of being a teenager, and if I could look at it from the perspective of a younger me, it would be a lot more enjoyable.
So I decided to do just that. The film essentially explores the themes of found family, loyalty, belonging and identity issues we all struggle with as teenagers, in one way or another, under the pretense of being a superhero movie and it does that pretty well.
Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi), is your classic young adult superhero, he is smart, resourceful, and on a mission. He has been dealt a rough hand through his childhood, moved through a series of foster homes. He is unable and unwilling to trust anyone. When he is chosen by an ancient wizard, he acquires a wide range of superhero powers (speed, super strength, flying , i.e., all the perks). A good hero needs a formidable villain, here he is aptly named Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong). Thaddeus acquires his powers from the seven deadly sins, which reside in his eye, and follow his commands.
The beauty of their conflict is how Billy’s arc is paralleled with Thad’s arc, about how two characters with nearly similar fates and circumstance, end up on the opposite sides of the spectrum, depending on there internal goodness or rather the choices they make. The seven sins make for forgettable, almost indistinguishable monsters but this parallel narrative structure, does add some weight to the narrative.
Billy’s latest foster home provides him with a family, one that he is reluctant to accept, until later in the film. A total of 6 kids (including Billy), and 2 guardians. The guardians here are cardboard cut-outs of what good foster care parents are supposed to seem like. The kids however, get some moments to shine.
Most notably, Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), who is the funniest and sweetest character in the film and Billy’s best friend. Freddy is a bit of a superhero nerd, and it is with his help that Billy learns to navigate his new found powers. Freddy is essentially a stand-in for all the fanboys/fan-girls out there and when he gets to fight beside Billy, and even save him at times, its essentially a source of wish fulfillment for the audience. The friendship between Billy and Freddy is the heart and soul of Shazam!, and source of numerous DC references.
Darla Dudley (Faithe Herman) is another one of the kids, and while she is a relatively minor character, I had to mention her because she is just the cutest, most lovable character in the film, and I would totally pay money to watch a movie with Darla as a protagonist. (Somebody please make it happen!). I wish I had more to say about the rest of the kids, but apart from a few standout scenes, there really isn’t much to work with.
What I will say is that I am a sucker for found family narratives and this is a good one. Billy’s growth throughout the story is reflected in his interactions with the rest of the family members and it is through there help that Billy is able to let go of his past and eventually find himself. The message here is pretty clear, ‘Family Don’t end with blood, and it doesn’t start there either’. (Supernatural quote alert). Despite some characters being underwritten, all the kids share an easy on-screen camaraderie, are generally likable and it is pretty easy to root for them.
The screenplay by Henry Gayden is replete with moments of absolute hilarity, and the actors, especially Levi and Grazer get a chance to showcase there comedic timing. Levi is perfect for his role, extremely believable as a child stuck in an adult body, and he manages to capture Billy’s innocence beautifully.
Another thing I need to mention is the soundtrack which includes some great tracks, such as Queen’s ‘Don’t stop me now’, Bing Crosby’s ‘Do you hear what I hear? ‘ and Survivor’s, ‘Eye of the tiger’, Kendrick Lamar’s,’Humble’, blending in beautifully with the tone and the vibe of the film.
There’s ideas being explored here are familiar, what works is the treatment of the material. Shazam! doesn’t take itself too seriously, its self aware, and unafraid to acknowledge its own pitfalls. Director David F. Sandberg is able to capture the inherent cheesiness of the narrative to his advantage, and elicit moments of laugh out loud humor. The pacing is swift for the most part.
The climax however, dragged on a bit too long for my liking and lost my interest, because of how contrived the plot becomes by this point and somehow loses its self-awareness. The third act tries to up the stakes of the fight, but its too little, too late, and almost unnecessary. While the film does manage to enjoyable, the ending falls flat. In an ideal world, cutting down on the 2 hr 12 min run time of the film or at least a cleaner ending would have made it much better.
Essentially, Shazam! is a charming and funny film with its heart in the right place and for me it worked as the memory of a much simpler time, when I couldn’t really identify the underlying nuances of any narrative structure, and yet, I was in love with the way movies made me feel. My instant reaction was one of joy and on deeper inspection, it was just clever enough to stay with me and had enough double entendre’s to keep me hooked.
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